Practice English Reading Exercises for B2 – Major Life Changes & Daily Events
Reading 1
You are going to read a magazine article about a teenager who had to undertake a difficult daily journey to school.
For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
The Long Commute
When my parents first suggested I transfer to Oakridge High, a prestigious academy on the opposite side of the city, I thought they were joking. To attend, I would have to be up at 5 a.m. every day. At that hour, the world is pitch black and freezing cold, especially in the depths of winter. I remember dragging myself out of my warm bed, absolutely resenting the alarm clock and my parents’ ambitions. If they hadn’t been so insistent on my academic success, I wouldn’t have been facing such a miserable daily routine. I was convinced that moving to a ‘better’ school was going to completely ruin my life.
The journey itself was nothing short of an endurance test. It required catching three different buses, each seemingly timed to ensure I had to wait in the freezing wind for at least ten minutes between connections. By the middle of the first term, chronic exhaustion had set in. I would arrive at the school gates shivering, feeling as though I had already completed a full day’s work before the first bell even rang. My friends, who lived a mere five-minute walk from the campus, could never truly understand why I was constantly yawning during our morning classes. They assumed I must have been staying up late playing video games.
The turning point occurred completely by accident one rainy November morning. In my rush to leave the house, I had forgotten to charge my phone overnight. By the time I boarded the second bus, the screen had gone black. Deprived of my usual digital distractions, I felt a rising sense of panic. However, I reached into my backpack and pulled out a battered paperback novel I had been assigned for English literature. Until that moment, I had only skimmed the chapters. Left with no other option, I opened the book and began to read properly. It was a reluctant decision, but one that shifted my entire routine.
Surprisingly, the rhythmic rumbling of the bus engine provided the perfect background noise for concentration. Within days, I found myself actively looking forward to the second leg of my journey, which was the longest uninterrupted stretch. I devoured fantasy novels, historical biographies, and science fiction epics. The crowded, noisy environment of the bus faded away, replaced by the vividly painted worlds of the authors. If I hadn’t lost my battery power that morning, I might never have discovered how immersive reading could be. The hour-long transit, which had previously felt like a prison sentence, gradually became a private sanctuary.
This newfound habit did more than just pass the time; it subtly transformed my mindset. Instead of starting the school day feeling stressed and irritated by the commute, I began arriving with a calm, focused mind. The characters and concepts I encountered on the bus sparked ideas that I later brought up in class discussions, much to the amazement of my teachers. I realised that while my peers were spending their mornings frantically rushing to school or mindlessly scrolling through social media, I was engaging in an hour of quiet, uninterrupted self-growth.
Looking back now, as I prepare to graduate from Oakridge, my perspective has completely reversed. I no longer resent the early alarms or the freezing mornings at the bus stop. While the logistics of the trip were undeniably harsh, the experience taught me an invaluable lesson about resilience. More importantly, those long, solitary journeys across the city gave me a lifelong passion for literature. The commute was originally intended to give me access to a better education, but the most important lessons I learned were actually the ones I absorbed while staring out of a frosty bus window.
1 Why was the writer initially unhappy about the transfer to the new school?
(A) They had a strong belief that the new academy was a joke compared to their old school.
(B) They felt pressured to achieve the exceptionally high academic standards of the academy.
(C) They hated the fact that they had to sacrifice sleep to travel in harsh conditions.
(D) They thought their parents did not care about their physical well-being.
2 What does the writer highlight about their friends in the second paragraph?
(A) They lived too close to the school to notice how tired the writer was.
(B) They made a false assumption about the cause of the writer’s exhaustion.
(C) They were highly unsympathetic when the writer complained about the buses.
(D) They believed the writer was completing a full day of work before school.
3 What does the word ‘It’ in paragraph 3 refer to?
(A) leaving the phone uncharged overnight
(B) finding a distraction to ease their rising panic
(C) skimming through the assigned English chapters
(D) opening the book to read the story properly
4 What does the writer imply about the bus journey in the fourth paragraph?
(A) The writer became largely oblivious to the uncomfortable physical setting.
(B) The rumbling of the engine made the books feel much more exciting.
(C) The second leg of the trip was noticeably quieter than the rest of the journey.
(D) The writer started to enjoy the background noise of the passengers.
5 How did the writer’s new habit positively affect their school life?
(A) It allowed them to finish their literature assignments ahead of time.
(B) It helped them to stop feeling irritated by their classmates.
(C) It provided them with inspiration to participate more in lessons.
(D) It ensured they arrived at school feeling completely awake and energized.
6 What is the writer’s main conclusion about their experience in the final paragraph?
(A) Parents’ ambitions for their children often lead to unnecessary hardship.
(B) The challenging commute provided unexpected and highly valuable rewards.
(C) Academic success is ultimately less important than developing a reading habit.
(D) Teenagers should always try to find the positive side of exhausting situations.
Answer Key
1 C: The text explicitly states that the writer had to be up at 5 a.m. in the “pitch black and freezing cold” and dragged themselves out of bed “resenting the alarm clock.” This matches option C. Distractor A is a false match using the word “joking” (the writer thought the parents were joking about the idea, not that the school was a joke). Distractor B is a partial truth; academic success is mentioned, but the extreme mornings were the core reason for their misery. Distractor D is an over-inference not supported by the text.
2 B: The text says, “They assumed I must have been staying up late playing video games,” which means they incorrectly guessed why the writer was tired. Distractor A is incorrect because the friends did notice the yawning, they just misunderstood why. Distractor C is unstated (the text never says the writer complained to them). Distractor D uses exact words (“full day’s work”) but attributes the writer’s own feeling to the friends’ beliefs.
3 D: The pronoun “It” refers directly to the preceding action: “Left with no other option, I opened the book and began to read properly. It was a reluctant decision…” Distractor A was an accident, not a decision. Distractor C contrasts with what “It” refers to, as skimming is what they did before. Distractor B is too vague and doesn’t pinpoint the specific action being referenced.
4 A: The writer states, “The crowded, noisy environment of the bus faded away, replaced by the vividly painted worlds of the authors,” implying they tuned out their uncomfortable surroundings. Distractor B is incorrect; the engine noise helped with concentration, it didn’t make the books more exciting. Distractor C is a false match; it was the longest stretch, not the quietest. Distractor D is the opposite of the text (the environment “faded away”).
5 C: The text states that the characters and concepts “sparked ideas that I later brought up in class discussions,” demonstrating that reading inspired participation. Distractor A is a partial truth trap; they read an assigned book, but finishing early isn’t mentioned. Distractor B is unstated; they noticed their classmates scrolling on phones, but irritation towards them is not mentioned. Distractor D is incorrect; they arrived “calm, focused,” not necessarily completely awake.
6 B: The final paragraph reflects on how the harsh logistics taught an “invaluable lesson about resilience” and yielded a “lifelong passion for literature,” meaning the difficult journey brought great rewards. Distractor A is the opposite of the text’s positive conclusion. Distractor C is an over-inference; the writer values the reading habit, but doesn’t state it is more important than academic success. Distractor D is too preachy and general; the question asks for the writer’s personal conclusion about their experience.